Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 77

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 886

USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 77

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with the difference. In 1843 it was shown that $34,651 had been either returned or accredited to the purchasers, while the total sales up to this time had amounted to $220,000. The various acts of retrospective legislation had reduced this amount so that the university had only realized $137,000, or $83,000 less than the amount for which the land had been actually sold. The kind of legislation thus briefly hinted at had the effect of reducing the amount actually realized from the sale of the university lands to $450,000, less than a half of what had been anticipated in 1837. In 1838 the legislature loaned the board of regents $100,000 for the purpose of organiz- ing the university and erecting the necessary buildings, a loan which the university, by the terms of the act, was never to be called upon di- rectly to repay.

Previous to this time the University of Michi- gan had been organized on paper. The original plan was drawn up in 1817 by Judge Woodward in an act passed by the territorial legislature of such great breadth that its high ideals have never been fully realized. In fact the education of to- day is hardly liberal enough to enable the ordi- nary college graduate to understand all the words used in this document creating what the act called "Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigan." The act says: "The Catholepiste- miad. or University of Michigan, shall be con- posed of 13 didaxiim, or professors: First, a didaxia, or professorship of catholepistemia, or universal sciences, the didactor, or professor, which shall be president of the university ; second, a didaxia, or professorship or anthro- poglossica, or literature, embracing all the epis- temium, or sciences relative to languages ; third, a didaxia, or professorship of mathematica, or mathematics, and fourth, a didaxia, or profes- sorship of physiognostica, or natural history." In 1821 the territorial legislature provided that persons of every religious denomination were capable of being elected trustees and that no one should be refused admission to the new univer- sity on account of "conscientious persuasions in matters of religion," and the trustees were au- thorized to establish such colleges, academies and schools dependent upon the university they

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might deem proper. But the real founding of the university was reserved till later years.

Michigan was fortunate in having for its first superintendent of public instruction Rev. John D. Pierce, a man of liberal culture, familiar with all the best systems of education in Europe, and with a special knowledge of the Prussian system of education from which he seems to have drawn largely his ideas which were put into effect in Michigan. In his first report he argued that the university should be organized upon the broad- est basis, recommending the ultimate establish- ment of three departments, one of literature, sciences and the arts, one of medicine and one of law. He argued that the university should be undenominational, and it was part of his sys- tem to bind together into one whole the common schools of the state and the university, which should be their "cap sheaf."

equity, a professor of constitutional and statute law, a professor of commercial and maritime law, and a professor of jurisprudence, and in the department of medicine a professor of an- atomy, a professor of surgery, a professor of pathology and physiology, a professor of the principles of physics, a professor of obstetrics and the diseases of women and children, and a professor of materia medica, pharmacy and medical jurisprudence. Under this law the fee for admission was never to exceed $10. The regents were directed to establish branches in various parts of the state, which branches were apparently to be preparatory departments of the university, and they were directed to procure plans for university buildings before January 1, 1839. Two days after the approval of this act the legislature passed a law locating the univer- sity at Ann Arbor. Forty acres of land, the present campus, were donated to the regents by the Ann Arbor Land Company, a syndicate which had been formed for the purpose of mak- ing money by the platting and sale of a consider- able territory adjoining the then village of Ann Arbor. The story of how the Ann Arbor Land company came to be formed and its efforts to make money out of the location of the university has thus been told :

In 1837 the legislature passed an act, approved on the 18th of March, in that year, authorizing the establishment of the University of Michi- gan, to consist of three departments which had been recommended by Superintendent Pierce. The university was to be governed by 12 regents to be appointed by the governor, and the gov- ernor, lieutenant-governor, judges of the sit- preme court and the chancellor of the state were to be ex-officio members of the board of regents. "One of the first acts of the legislature, after Michigan had been admitted into the Union, was to appropriate money to erect buildings and es- tablish a university. At that time Daniel C. Brown and his brother, Nathaniel J. Brown, in company with a man named Garrett, of New York city, were running a commission store in Chicago. Daniel bought a good deal of the stuff that they handled, in Ann Arbor, and it was while on a trip home to Ann Arbor for a fresh load of goods that he picked up an Ann Arbor weekly newspaper and read the act which the legislature had just passed. He took the paper back with him to Chicago, and pinned it up on the window of their store in Chicago where everyone who passed could read it. Garrett had been around Wall street, in New York city, for 20 years, was shrewd in a deal, and quick to see a good investment. He told Daniel B. Brown The governor was to be its president and the regents were to have the power of enacting laws for the government of the university, to ap- point professors, a chancellor and other officers. Twenty-five professorships were to be estab- lished as follows: In the department of litera- ture, sciences and the arts a professor of an- cient languages, a professor of modern lan- guages, a professor of rhetoric, a professor of the philosophy of history and logic, a professor of natural theology and history of all religions, a professor of political economy, a professor of mathematics, a professor of natural philosophy, a professor of chemistry, a professor of geology and mineralogy, a professor of botany and zoo- logy, a professor of fine arts, a professor of civil engineering, and a professor of drawing. In the department of law a professor of interna- tional law, a professor of common law and to go right back to Ann Arbor, buy up all the

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land he could in and about Ann Arbor, organize a joint stock company, issue scrip and then take out 40 acres from the heart of the investment and donate it to the state for the university, if it would be located in Ann Arbor. Acting upon this advice. Daniel Brown immediately laid the plan before his business friends ; they approved it, and a joint stock company was organized by E. W. Morgan, Charles Thayer, William R. Thompson, William S. Maynard and Daniel B. Brown, and 200 acres of land bought. Scrip was issued to the amount of $200,000 and oper- ations began with the setting aside of the 40 acres, which now comprise the campus of the University of Michigan. They next sent $25,000 of the scrip to Detroit by one competent to lobby, and when the measure deciding the location of the new university was finally brought up, Ann Arbor won by a fair majority. But Ann Arbor was not Wall street, nor did the boom in real estate meet their expectations, many lots around the university campus selling for $50 apiece and none ever higher than $200. When the affairs of the company were finally wound up it was found that no one had made or lost a dollar, and that the five men had, in reality, donated the land to the university, the investment and recepits just striking a balance, exclusive of the 40 acres." The Daniel B. Brown mentioned in this article was sheriff of Washtenaw county in 1833. and was the first superintendent of the Michi- gan Central Railroad. For 47 years he was a deacon of the Baptist church. He died ir Ann Arbor. March 14. 1901, at the age of ninety-six years.

The members of the Ann Arbor Land Com- pany were jubilant over securing the location of the University of Michigan upon the forty acres they donated, and they proceeded to boom the village of Ann Arbor in a fashion which has been approved by so many land speculators in our western states. Posters were sent broadcast throughout the country depicting the great ad- vantages to accrue to Ann Arbor from the loca- tion of the university. One of these posters reads as follows :

"The undersigned will offer at at public auc- tion on the 8th day of June next, at the Ann Ar- bor Exchange, in this village, on the most liberal

terms, one thousand village lots, comprising some of the most eligible locations for business, and many of the most delightful sites for dwell- ings in the village or its vicinity. Also, one hundred out lots of from one to ten acres each, lying within one mile of the village, several of them well timbered, and many of them well watered, affording excellent pasture. Also a number of improved farms situated from one to three miles from town.

"The healthy and delighful situation of Ann Arbor and its superior natural advantages are too well known to require description. The legisla- ture, at its last session, established the University in Ann Arbor ; and also provided by law for the speedy construction by the state of the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad, which will probably be completed to this place the present season. The funds of the University being now estimated at over $5,000,000 and rapidly increasing, every- thing connected with the institution will doubt- less be conducted upon a scale of unparalleled munificence and nothing omitted which science, taste and wealth can do to embelish the town, improve the society, and make it the most desira- ble residence in the great west for persons of literature and refinement, while the great agricul- tural, manufacturing and commercial advantages of the place, and the facilities of communication with every part of the Union will afford ample employment for the capitalist and man of busi- ness. Similar inducements can never again be offered to purchasers in Michigan. The terms of the sale will be one-fourth down (or approved bank paper), and the balance in three equal an- nual installments, with annual interest secured upon the property. Ann Arbor scrip will be re- ceived at $200 per share, in payment for all prop- erty sold by the Ann Arbor Land Company. The sales will be positive, and the title in all cases warranted good. E. W. Morgan, Wm. S. May- nard. Trustees of the Ann Arbor Land Co .. Chas. Thayer, Chester Ingalls, D. B. Brown, E. S. Cobb, Wm. R. Thompson. Ann Arbor. April 20, 1837."

In 1838 the regents decided to establish eight branches of the university which would be, in fact, preparatory schools. Five of these branches were organized-at Pontiac, Niles, Detroit, Te-

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cumsch am These branches failed to Abouristhas the population of the state was sparse and the funds for their support were limited. However, it was ten years before the last of the preparatory schools had ceased to exist and they had Core good work in preparing students for the antversi:1.

It was not until the 2nd day of July. 1841. That the seganisation of the instructional force At the university began. George P. Williams. www tul been principal of the Pontiac branch. was appointed professor of languages, but within less than a month he was transferred to the chair mathematics. Rev. Joseph Whiting. principal di the Niles branch, was then appointed to the department of languages. A month later nve buildings stood on the campus, consisting of four professorS houses and the north wing of the present main bathling, which was then itself the main building of the university. The two pro- fessors were to be paid a salary of $500 a year and were th be given free house rent, and also to divide the fees tur pupils in the preparatory de- partment. Six young men were almitted as stu- denis in the university. five in the freshman class andi one in the somhomere class. The sophomore was Willar B. Wesson. bi Detroit. The fresh- men were Tudsen D. Collins bi Lyndon. Mer- Chant H. Geradeich, & Ann Arbor Lyman D. Norris of Ypsilanti, George E. Parmelee, of Ann Arbor. ani George W. Pray. of Superior. I: will be noticed that the entire sinh mare class come from: Detroit. while the entire freshman class Mate incen Washtenaw county.

Profess : Geirse P. Wifiuns was born in Wordstock. Vermont. : (So2, graduated ir :: the University of Vermont in Esas. "ears at the Andover Thead . West C

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of manliness with generosity and frank courtesy and good feeling. He was an admirably compe- tent instructor and remained with the university until his death September 4. 1881. He was pro- fessor of natural philosophy from 1841 to 1854; professor of mathematics from 1854 to 1863 ; and professor of physics from 1803 to 188t. the last six years of which as professor emeritus. Prob- ably more college stories are told of Professor Williams than of any other university professor. He was of me lium height, straight, square shoul- dered. somewhat portly, with a large head and a larger heart. One cold winter morning the jani- tor found a donkey in Dr. Williams' room in the university building, which the students had placed there. and started over to tell the Doctor about it. Arriving at the Doctor's house, ont of breath, he exclaimed: "Why. Dr. Williams. Dr. Williams. there is -- there is-a donkey in your room !" "Only one." answered the Doctor. On another occasion another donkey was introduced into the Doctor's room: and securely tied to his desk ; and when the Doctor came in the class was hard at work look- ing over their books. Taking off his hat, he- smiled at the students, surveyed the desk and the donkey tied to it. and remarked: "Well. young gentlemen. I am extremely delighted this morn- ing in see that you have chosen one of your num- ber th preside and consequently do not need me. You may take the next fourteen propositions in geommetery for tomorrow. Good morning!" On another occasion a frog was placed upon Dr. Wil- Clams' desk, and upon observing it he remarked: "Why. here's another freshman" After the Caughter hal subsided. he liked at the frog again and said: "Why. young gentlemen, there can be no Both: about it because he smells fresh and Hooks green!"

Pa lessor Joseph Whiting hai taken the de- Stee nf M. A. at Yale in 1823 and was a Pres- baterian clergyman. and acted as president of the Znie faculty in the first years of its life. He died En Ann Arbor in August. : S:s. aged forty-five years. He did not Live to see the first class grad- race. He was a man of ability and the regents hai acted wisely in selecting him for one of the Erst university chairs.

PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

The first rummencement of the university was held in August. 1845. en which occasion eleven students received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. These students were Charles A. Clark. of Min- roe : Judson D. Collins, of Lyndon. the first Com- missioner of the Metho dist Episcopal church to China : Thomas B. Cummings. who was after- ward acting governor of Nebraska: Edmund Fish, who became a New York city merchant : Merchant H. Goodrich, who continued to reside in Ann Arbor until his death : Edwin A. Law- rence : Fletcher (). Marsh, who became a college professor in Dennison and Leland Universities : John D. Mckay, a lawyer and editor of St. Louis : George E. Parmelee. a New York city merchant : George W. Pray. afterward a member of the legislature : and Paul W. H. Rawies. a captain in the Mexican war who died shortly after its conclusion. Of these not me is noer living. In 1840 there were twenty-three graduates of the university. but this number Ir pped )= in 1852 ". ritic.

With the adoption of the new state of restitution fw 1851 the organization of the niversite ban! ni regents was changed, and they were there- after to be electedl by the people. an ! were given general supervision of the university an : tile li- rection and control of all expen Boires for the university interest fund. It is under this " ro- vision that the courts have hell that the regents are independent i legislative conr :. The at- tendance on the university hal Mr ppel in - eighty-four in 1848 to fifty-sever in 1852. The new constitution required that the hand i re- gents should elect a president of the university. and the regents selected Rev. Henry P. Tarpan. D. D .. of New York. Dr. Tappan vas thus the first president of the university. He was born a: Rhinebeck on the Hudson. April 18. (805. He graduated from Union College in (825 and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. At the age of twenty-seven he was appointed to the chair f moral and intellectual philosophy in the Uni- versity of New York. He was author of several metaphysical books. and in 1845 received the He- gree of D. D. from Union College. and in 1853 the degree of LL. D. from Columbia. In. 1856 he was made a corresponding member of the Insti-

tute of France. He Was induits Bio men ko Arbor in my New York by bis ere & take part in the creation fan American university tasery- ing of the nate. rle re :: ved te Ann Arbor viti: his family in Metiber. 1852. ami his services on Michigan were f the highest character ani ms: productive in their postales. It is on the be all general principles which he laili dinwn ami en- freei that the university is still carriedi un. He tras a man wi broad view. OPeral culture = strong personal commisions, and a man wh ais - Castely refuse l th tento rize ritt cytes, parties ir sects. wh earl; hecan -- dam : fr repre- sentation in the facilit ant fur coatnit f the

interests if the university. faculty sh ild s present niji sch lars an i profes- si-nal ajlife . ani man f the then he ch se -- constitute that facto hai Deo me men of na- tihnal rennte as sch fars. Witte. Dont- . Was- ann. Frieze. Boist. Tytoshell and Have all be-

Tappar's administrati :. He insisted

early students wf the wirersity the wings of the university as med the greatest ethical

hier an American a Mess and president of the anine- EN 3. when he

resizne blin acerut: ces members the bar ! & regents while will appreciate the hy a imin de lness of the ftan which kene hd --- from joining in their sectarian wieis. cumistances wild det tror. Tapran's Festens- den alris: by ke his heart and he went to Shi :- ceriani. where he But ir :88 :. never again hav- ing set init on his native siti: but before his Ceath the people : Michigan halle me full o appreciate the great plek that the Past president had accomplishel for the university.

The medical faculty hal heen ann intet in 1840 and organizator May 5. that, By Setting Dr. Abram: Sager its president. The medical schoch opened in ca her. 1850. callthe first rear containe : - st: lents. The establishment of this denartment "vas largede tre o Professor Moses Grunn. who continged as profess : in the University of Michigan till t&- when the west to Chicago as greet lent B the Rash Metal CH-

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

lege. Dr. Gunn had heard of the establishment of a university at Ann Arbor and the fact that a medical department was ultimately to be estab- lished : and he proposed to Dr. Corydon L. Ford, who was a fellow student of his at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Geneva, that they should both teach in the new medical department. Dr. Gunn was in earnest and immediately after graduation secured a body for dissection, and packing it in his trunk came to Ann Arbor from New York by stages, and arriving in Ann Arbor immediately organized a class in anatomy and physiology among the literary students. Having by this means aroused the interest of the students, he secured their aid in urging upon the regents the immediate organization of the department of medicine, and many of the students expressed their desire to enter it as medical students. This was the first free medical college in the United States and consequently was well advertised through all parts of the country. The literary students expected to have great sport in hazing the medical students about to enter, but to their surprise the medical class opened with ninety stal- wart medical students, a number in excess of the students in the literary department. The hazing was omitted. Dr. Gunn remained in Chicago as president of the Rush Medical College for a num- ber of years, and died in 1887.

Dr. Sager, the first dean of the medical depart- ment, was professor of botany and zoology in the university from 1842 to 1850, and continued a professor in the medical department until his death, August 6, 1877. He was born in Bethle- hem, New York, December 22, 1870, and was chief of the botanical and geological department of the state geological survey of Michigan, and his collection of specimens laid the foundation for the present museum of the university. Dr. Silas H. Douglas was made professor of chemistry, pharmacy and medical jurisprudence in 1850, dropped the chair of medical jurisprudence in 1856 and took up that of toxicology, and in 1870 was made director of the chemical laboratory. He resigned in 1877. He was dean of the medi- cal faculty from 1853 to 1858. Dr. Douglas found time to organize the Ann Arbor Gas Company, with which he continued until his

death, and served as mayor of the city of Ann Arbor. Dr. Samuel Denton was appointed pro- fessor of theory and practice of physics and path- ology, which position he held from 1850 to 1860. Dr. Denton was long a resident of Ann Arbor and was a prominent local physician who took a strong stand in matters of politics. He was a member of the second convention of assent whose action admitted Michigan into the Union, and was a state senator from 1845 to 1848, being president pro tem in the latter year. He died in Ann Arbor in 1860, aged fifty-seven years. Dr. Jonathan A. Allen was professor of thera- peutics, materia medica and physiology from 1850 to 1854, and was afterward a professor in Rush Medical College, and in 1877 was made president of that college. These five men constituted the first medical faculty.

In 1857 a course in engineering was estab- lished. In 1859 the law school was founded, and then followed in order a school of pharmacy, a school of mines, a school of architecture, and in 1875 schools of dentistry and homeopathy. Early in Dr. Tappan's administration it was seen that in order to teach astronomy successfully an ob- servatory was needed, and largely through the personal solicitation of the president the money for this observatory was raised in Detroit by contribution. The Detroit Observatory, as it was called, was built just about as it exists at the present day in this city, and was at once recog- nized as one of the most perfectly equipped ob- servatories in the world.

The nucleus of the university library was a col- lection of 4,000 volumes purchased in 1840. For the next ten years few additions were made, but after Dr. Tappan's arrival more attention was paid to the library. The first librarian was ap- pointed in 1854 and was Professor Louis Tas- quelle. He was succeeded by John L. Tappan who served until 1863. D. C. Brooks served for one year and Professor Andrew Ten Brook was librarian from 1864 to 1877. In 1877 Raymond C. Davis was appointed librarian and served until 1005, when Theodore W. Koch was appointed librarian.

The collection of fine arts was begun in 1859 and in 1862 a Rogers' Art Association was

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

formed to purchase the statuary of Nydia by Ran- dolph Rogers, who had been a boy in Ann Arbor. It is front this beginning that the art collection of the university has grown.

In 1856 a chemical laboratory was erected and the demand for instruction in this branch became so general that large additions had to be made.

The law department was opened on October 3, 1859. The first law faculty was a particularly strong one and consisted of Thomas M. Cooley, James V. Campbell and Charles I. Walker. Dur- ing the first year there were ninety students in the law department. Two of the three members of this faculty were judges of the Supreme Court of Michigan. Judge Cooley became known as the greatest American law writer of his time. His books were quoted as authority in the Eng- lish courts as well as the American, a distinction conferred upon but few American law writers. He was one of the first United States interstate commerce commissioners, and practically molded the earlier decisions of that body. He was dean of the law faculty until 1884. and during his serv- ice on the interstate commerce commission was connected with the university faculty as professor of American history and constitutional law. He died in Ann Arbor, October 12, 1807. Judge Campbell, who was professor of law from 1859 to 1885. was an eloquent lecturer, a strong and able lawyer, and was one of the finest men that Michigan ever saw. He died in Detroit, March 26, 1890. Mr. Walker was on the law faculty from 1859 to 1876, again from 1879 to 1881, and a third time from 1886 to 1887.

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Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 77

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 886

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 886